23 minute read

BIG PICTURE

Arvind Patil

Business Head of Selectra India

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An Exceptional Start To Selectra India- Astounds Indian Telecom Industry!

An unorthodox company, Selectra is all set to enter the Indian market. In an exclusive interview with Arvind Patil, Business Head of Selectra India states his plans and goals to empower customers to make meaningful telecom decisions. BIS in this edited exceprts below try to unveil this new innovative approach which is set to bring a new course of time for the Indian telecom industry.

QSelectra India Entrance in India and Strategies to Astound Customers with you Cutting-Edge Services?

Selectra India is all set to create waves of difference in the conventional method of presenting services. Aimed at being the best solutions provider in the telecom industry, we are bent upon unveiling innovative ideas that help telecom subscribers make sound decisions. The major players like Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, BSNL, Vodafone Idea have created a network of plans and packages for their subscribers.

Internet and mobile subscribers are increasing day by day in the country. With several service providers offering numerous options, Indian users find themselves deep down in a sea of confusion. Selectra India comes to their rescue by giving them proper and accurate guidance. The comprehensive comparisons between mobile - internet plans, OTT service providers and DTH providers will not be found elsewhere. You click on our pages and get the most updated information on the telecom industry.

QWhat’s different about Selectra India and your unusual approach to content presentation?

What’s different about Selectra India? We do not just give out information. We collect, curate, verify and evaluate every piece of data that goes on our website. You get only the best and most reliable information regarding mobile and internet plans. For those of you who are looking to find updates on the Entertainment and sports industry, look no further. Selectra India has a collection of blogs and guides that prove useful in gaining knowledge on a wide variety of telecom-related topics.

Are you a business owner? Then we have the best business plans for you. Are you a homemaker- We have affordable and cost-saving packs for you? Each customer will find customised plans according to his/her need. Delivering quality content with the best interests of the customer at heart is what we do and what we will continue to be doing. We eliminate the need for tiring searches on the internet to get comprehensive data on plans and offers. One website -complete information.

QStrategies to become a transcontinental force?

Selectra saw its beginnings in 2007 when the founders Aurian and Xavier decided to start a service aimed at being the best source of reliable guidance about gas and electricity deals. Saving bills for ordinary people became the motto of the company. With the dedication and hard work pouring in from each employee, Selectra extended services into various arenas including the telecom industry. Today Selectra stands

at the 653rd rank amongst the fastest-growing companies in Europe.

Our brilliant presence is seen in 17 countries across the globe. Customers in all these countries are exceedingly happy with the services we provide. You can spot us in the following countries: - India, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Brazil, Mexico, Bulgaria, Ireland, Turkey, Australia, Texas (USA), and Japan. y Our biggest strength -An ever-increasing loyal

customer base

y Our Constant Focus- Customer Satisfaction and

empowerment

QKey Message you want to convey on behalf of the company?

Within 4 months of launch we started getting traction and there are about 2500 visitors daily, which represents the audience's need and that they are consuming the required information. It's our pleasure that we are managing to fulfil their expectations and helping them to save their bills. During this pandemic, we have seen the Digital transformation and development of telecom base. We are keener towards helping homes and businesses make the right choice of investment and save bills to support a better India!

QHow do you see the rapid augmentation in the growth of the indian telecom industry?

India is witnessing exponential growth in the telecom subscriber base. Currently, India ranks at the second position with a customer base of 1.17 billion. According to our sources, there are 765.1 million broadband customers as of February 2021. Take a look at the outstanding figures in the Indian telecom industry.

Highlights

y A huge digital economy of $1 tn is predicted by the

year 2025

y The number of internet users (active) in India is

predicted to be 900 mn by the year 2025

y It is expected that there will be 410 mn more smartphone

users in India by the year 2025

y In terms of FDI inflows, the Indian telecom sector is

now at the third position with 7.1 % of the total FDI inflow

y The telecom sector contributes to

2.2 Mn jobs directly and 1.8 Mn jobs indirectly.

y Currently, the telecom sector

contributes 6.5 per cent to the country's GDP

y It is expected that the sector will

contribute 8 per cent to the GDP in 2022.

We are witnessing a telecom revolution in the country and can very proudly say that Selectra India plays a significant role in the development of an active and well-informed telecom subscriber base.

Convection and conduction cooling – what’s next?

Ever since their introduction, keeping the temperature of a power supply down to a level that guarantees the highest levels of performance and safety has been a major concern for power designers. Considering the amazing increase in power densities that we have witnessed during the last 20 years, thermal management has become a preponderant part of the design process. Layout and mechanical design are now as important as efficiency topologies, and how to evacuate the calories out of modules has become an art!

The race to get greater power density!

Efficient thermal management has been one of the challenges that I faced in the early nineties when working for the microelectronics company Micro-Gisco. I took part in the design of a 100W DC/DC converter in a package size equivalent to what is today called a quarter-brick, for an application where the environmental temperature flirted with the junction temperature. At that time, the only technology available was to use thick film technology and chips bounding on a ceramic substrate. In such types of applications the only way to guarantee efficient cooling was through a base plate attached to a fluid refrigerant exchanger. There’s no need to explain the importance of conduction cooling and efficient thermal management, that remains in every power designer’s mind.

At the same time, with the development of mobile telecommunications the increased demand for integrated power solutions contributed to the emergence of the so called ‘bricks’, and a race to package more power into smaller sizes began. The increases of power have been really impressive. One example is the increase in power density of the so called ‘quarter-brick’. In March 2000, the power modules division of ERICSSON (EPM) launched a state of the art 100W quarter brick DC/DC converter, the PKM 4000 series. 20 years later FLEX Power Module (which acquired EPM in 2017) launched a 1300W quarter brick, the BMR480 (Figure 01). Increasing the output power by a factor of more than 10 in less than 20 years is the result of a combination of more efficient topologies, digital control, new components, heavy-copper multilayer PCBs, integrated magnetics and outstanding layouts - but not only! - to guarantee full performance of such products, efficient cooling is a Must!

Keeping Fourier’s Law in mind

Over the last 20 years power electronics engineers have improved products’ efficiency to a high level, and we are all aiming to reach the magical figure of 99.99%. But until then we have to manage the heat generated by the power losses. A 1000W DC/DC converter with a typical efficiency of 97% will have to dissipate 31W [Pd = Pout x ((1-Ƞ) / Ƞ)]. Considering an average ambient temperature in a telecom or industrial equipment of 55 degrees Celsius, efficient cooling will be required to guarantee the internal temperature of the module does not exceed the safety limit specified by the manufacturer e.g., +105 degrees C at specified test point.

As we all remember from school, in 1822 the French Physician Joseph Fourier (Figure 02) demonstrated that the time rate of heat transfer through a material is proportional to the negative gradient in the temperature and to the area. Fourier’s laws (Figure 03) of thermal conduction governs the principle of heat exchange from the lowest level e.g., the semiconductor junction to ambient. Thermal resistance is the reciprocal of thermal conductance. Just as an electrical resistance is associated with the conduction of electricity, a thermal resistance may be associated with the conduction of heat. Making the thermal resistance as low as possible is a challenge for all power designers and that’s where electronics meets thermodynamics.

Picture 01 - In 20 years the quarter-brick output power increased by an average factor of more than 10x. (Credits: PRBX/FLEX Power Modules) Picture 02 - in 1822 the French Physician Joseph Fourier demonstrated that the time rate of heat transfer through a material is proportional to the negative gradient in the temperature and to the area. (credit: PRBX)

Picture 03 – Fourier’s Law formula of thermal conduction (Credit: PRBX)

The building practices of AC/DC and DC/DC power modules are optimized to evacuate the heat through a conduction cooling mechanism from silicon to an exchanger surface e.g., aluminum baseplate. In most common applications a heatsink is attached to the baseplate and cooled by a flow of air, thus evacuating heat from the module (Figure 04). In telecom/datacom applications a 400 LFM (2 m/s) airflow circulating inside the rack to cool the overall system is very common, but some very high power density systems may require up to the double that (800 LFM (4 m/s), which is very noisy and reduces the life time of fans and cooling turbines. Air forced cooling is the most common method to keep the temperature within safe limits though there are a number of applications where such cooling methods are not possible, and there are a growing number of concerns about reliability and sustainability related to that. Usually the air ventilated through datacenters and other high power equipment is exhausted outside the building, the calories are not converted into any usable resource, and in addition to that most of the datacenters requiring air-conditioning systems consume a lot of energy, which is a major concern.

Picture 04 – Illustration of a typical Power Module being cooled by an attached heatsink. Just as an electrical resistance is associated with the conduction of electricity, a thermal resistance may be associated with the conduction of heat. (Credit: PRBX)

When forced air cooling is not an option

There are a number of applications where it is not possible or even allowed to use active ventilation. In harsh environments or in applications where the required reliability level imposes the need to remove all possible risks of failure, fans and blowers are not allowed. Here are a few examples. Industrial machinery such as laser cutting equipment that generates burnt particles, smoke, and steam have their monitoring and control boxes sealed to avoid contamination and the risk of damage as a result of the cutting process.

Picture 05 – Example of a thermal conduction platform, optimized for conduction cooling, with all dissipating components attached to the baseplate. (Credit: PRBX)

In order to power the control system the power supply is enclosed in a sealed box, requiring the dissipated heat to be extracted by conduction from the chassis, or the need for it to be attached to a cold-wall. To make the cooling as efficient as possible the power supply is designed with a large base-plate to which all dissipating components are attached (Figure 05). In some equipment a liquid cooling is required to cool vital parts, e.g., a laser or plasma torch during operation. In such applications the power supply benefits from the fluid circulation and the baseplate attached to a cooling element (Figure 06).

Picture 06 – In demanding applications, a liquid cooling element can be added to PSU baseplate to facilitate the evacuation of calories (Credit: PRBX/SUNON)

Industrial surveillance and safety equipment may be installed in remote places where exposure to extreme weather conditions is common, and where maintenance can become complicated. In such installations reliability is extremely important, and system designers need to exclude all possible causes of failure. Despite significant improvements in quality, fans and blowers are subject to mechanical failure and are not suitable for such applications. Again, as in the previous example, cooling can only be achieved through conduction to the outside of the sealed box and a passive heat exchanger.

When silence is golden

There is also a growing demand for equipment that is installed in supervisory rooms or even offices, that for the comfort and health of the employees, generated noise is simply not produced or very much limited.

One example is open-landscape offices where in some cases noise levels can be as high as 60 to 65 decibels. This may seem minor compared to say a busy highway that generates 85 decibels, but it can make cognitively demanding work difficult to undertake, with subsequent effects on health and safety. In fact a number of companies now require noise levels in open-landscape offices to be below 55 decibels and local regulations taking place.

Such situations include equipment installed in the room, and from computers to large displays e.g. as used in road or air traffic control office, noise levels must be reduced to the lowest level possible, and noisy forced air cooling is banned. In such conditions the power supply must be designed to be able to operate without ventilation, using a conduction cooling solution.

In conclusion:

Designing a power supply for conduction cooling requires power designers to work in very different ways compared to when designing a power supply that benefits from a high airflow and extensive cooling. Conduction cooled power supplies used to be considered as an anecdotic segment, though new environmental regulations may soon require a number of forced-air cooled applications to move to more environmentally friendly solutions and conduction cooling.

References:

Powerbox (PRBX):

https://www.prbx.com/

Théorie Analytique de la Chaleur par M. FOURRIER - 1822 https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1045508v.texteImage#

FLEX Power Modules :

https://flexpowermodules.com/

For more information

Visit www.prbx.com Please contact Patrick Le Fèvre, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer +46 (0)158 703 00 Reference: PRBXA-037-EN

About the author:

Patrick Le Fèvre

Powerbox Chief Marketing & Communication Officer

Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for Powerbox, Patrick Le Fèvre is an experienced, senior marketer and degreequalified engineer with a 35-year track record of success in power electronics. He has pioneered the marketing of new technologies such as digital power and technical initiatives to reduce energy consumption. Le Fèvre has written and presented numerous white papers and articles at the world’s leading international power electronics conferences. These have been published over 350 times in media throughout the world. He is also involved in several environmental forums, sharing his expertise and knowledge of clean energy.

Mouser’s Wide Range of Technical eBooks for Design Engineers

Mouser Electronics has been continuously supporting engineers by offering new technical resources. This year, the global distributor has released more eBooks than ever before, collaborating with top manufacturers to provide practical guides that offer design engineers the information to solve new engineering challenges. For the latest eBooks, Mouser collaborated with Amphenol Corporation, Bourns and Maxim Integrated (now part of Analog Devices):

• Enabling the Industrial IoT Revolution from Amphenol

In Enabling the Industrial IoT Revolution, subject matter experts from Mouser and Amphenol offer detailed insights into topics including industrial data centers; heating, ventilation, and cooling (HVAC) systems; and indoor air quality systems as well as smart manufacturing, intelligent automation, construction, and mining.

• How to Choose the Right Surge Protection Technology from Bourns

Increasing complexity in electronic designs has led to a matching increase in PCB density. As a result, these denser board layouts are at a greater risk of damage from transients like lightning and voltage surges. In How to Choose the Right Surge Protection Technology from Bourns and Mouser, engineers receive a step-by-step guide on how to choose the right surge protection technology for a given application.

Digi-Key & Make Unveil 2021 Boards Guide and AR App element14 Releases Final Episode of its Podcast Series

Digi-Key Electronics and Make have launched the 2021 Boards Guide and companion Digi-Key AR augmented reality app available in both the Apple App Store for iOS devices and the Google Play store for Android-based mobile devices. Divided into sections for the microcontroller (MCU), singleboard controller (SBC) and field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based boards, the guide helps students, makers and professional engineers identify the latest technology available to help bring innovation to life. As a companion to this year’s guide, Digi-Key is proud to announce an augmented reality app leveraging cameras, displays and sensors in today’s mobile devices. With over 50 boards available in AR, the app is the best way to virtually interact with these leading platforms. The Digi-Key AR app is designed to work in conjunction with the guide or as a standalone experience. With detailed comparisons of over 150 boards, there is no better way to find the right solution for rapid prototyping and embedded design from leading vendors including Adafruit, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, SparkFun, BeagleBone, Micro:bit, Seeed Studio, STMicroelectronics, Microchip, Cypress and more. New to this year’s guide is a highlighted case study on the recently introduced Raspberry Pi 2040 MCU-based solutions. Within its first year, there have been over 60 boards developed from various suppliers cementing the new microcontroller architecture’s place in the embedded design world. Another exclusive available only from within the app includes a video from industry visionaries on what the future will bring to embedded boards. element14 has launched the sixth and final episode in the first season of its global podcast series, The Innovation Experts. This brand-new episode highlights how portable test and measurement tools have disrupted the industry status quo, regarding a series of ground-breaking application stories. Justin Sheard, a Senior Engineer and Industrial Imaging Specialist at Fluke, joins element14’s Cliff Ortmeyer to provide an overview of rugged, safe and easy-to-use handheld instruments which meet the portability requirements of the modern engineer. Justin shares insights on some interesting new technologies that can improve system reliability and greatly reduce costs, such as using acoustic imaging to locate difficult-to-find leaks in industrial compressed air systems. All previous podcast episodes are available now on element14’s new Technical Resources Hub including: • Episode 1: Test equipment drives hybrid working and remote learning – The debut episode of the series focuses on how Pico Technology’s PC-based oscilloscopes and RF testing products have enabled hybrid working and new ways of remote learning throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Mike Purday, Business Development Manager from Pico Technology, discusses the capabilities and impact of using low-cost PCbased scopes. • Episode 2: Fast-tracking innovation: Emerging trends and techniques – As Tektronix and Keithley celebrate their 75th anniversary, the second episode of podcast provides a brief historical perspective about how both companies have helped drive innovation in some of the world’s leading industries.

ST Modifies its Executive Committee Infineon Acquires Syntronixs Asia

ROHM Broadens its SBDs Portfolio

STMicroelectronics (ST) has recently approved the following changes to the Executive Committee, entrusted with the management of the Company and led by ST’s President & CEO Jean-Marc Chery as its Chairman on whose proposal the Supervisory Board made the certain changes. These changes will be effective January 1st, 2022. Marco Cassis will be appointed President, Analog, MEMS and Sensors Group. In addition to his Product Group role, Cassis will retain many corporate responsibilities, namely Strategy Development, System Research and Applications and the Innovation Office. Remi El-Ouazzane will be appointed President of the Microcontroller and Digital ICs Group, following Claude Dardanne’s decision to retire at the end of the year from this position. El-Ouazzane is joining ST from Intel, where he has been Chief Operating Officer of Intel’s Artificial Intelligence Products Group and, more recently, Chief Strategy Officer of the Datacenter Platform Group. Lorenzo Grandi is confirmed in his Chief Financial Officer role and will be appointed President of Finance, Purchasing, ERM and Resilience. Jerome Roux, currently Executive Vice President, Asia Pacific Region, will be appointed President, Sales & Marketing. His responsibilities will include ST Regions (EMEA, Americas, Asia Pacific and China), on top of the Global Key Account and Demand Planning organizations. The following Presidents are confirmed in their current roles: Orio Bellezza, President, Technology, Manufacturing, Quality and Supply Chain; Rajita D’Souza, Chief Human Resources Officer, President, Human Resources & Corporate Social Responsibility; Marco Monti, President, Automotive and Discrete Group; Steven Rose, President, Legal Counsel. Infineon Technologies (Malaysia) has acquired Syntronixs Asia Sdn. Bhd., a Melaka-based electroplating company.Founded in 2006, Syntronixs Asia has a workforce of more than 500 people and has been a major service provider for Infineon since 2009. “Infineon is committed to taking the necessary steps to continuously enhance our global manufacturing footprint,” said Alexander Gorski, Executive Vice President, who is responsible for Infineon’s global Backend Operations. Thomas Kaufmann, Executive Vice President and COO of Infineon’s Automotive Division, said: “Through this acquisition, we have made another important step to strengthen the resilience of our supply chain”. The company specializes in precision electroplating, a key process in the assembly process of semiconductors, which is required to ensure the high quality and long-term reliability of Infineon’s products.

ROHM has recently expanded its portfolio of Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) by 24 new compact high-efficiency models (12 RBR series and 12 RBQ series). These devices – 178 in total are ideal for protection and rectification circuits in automotive, industrial equipment, and consumer applications. Diodes are commonly used in a variety of circuits for rectification and protection. Moreover, as lower power consumption is required in most applications, the adoption of SBDs – which are more efficient than other diodes – is on the rise. However, if VF is lowered to improve efficiency, IR which is inversely related to VF will become higher. This increases the risk of thermal runaway, so it is important to balance both VF and IR when selecting SBDs for circuit design. In response, ROHM strengthened its lineup of SBDs that balances small size with low VF and IR– characteristics demanded by the automotive sector. The market-proven RBR and RBQ series has been further expanded to include a lineup of compact high current, high voltage products that enable rectification and protection in a wider range of applications. Introducing a new process allows ROHM to improve the chip performance of both SBDs series by 25% (VF of RBR series in particular) over ROHM’s conventional products. Furthermore, the RBR series features excellent low VF characteristics – key to improving efficiency and reducing loss.

Vishay Capacitors Named as 2021 Elektra Awards Finalist Renesas Enters into FPGA Market

Vishay Intertechnology has declared that its Vishay BCcomponents SMDY1 series of surface-mount ceramic disc safety capacitors for EMI filtering has been chosen as a finalist for the 2021 Elektra Awards in the category of "Passive and Electromechanical Product of the Year." Presented by an Electronics magazine, the Elektra Awards recognize individuals and companies for their excellent performance, innovation, and contributions to the global electronics industry, with winners selected in 21 categories by an independent panel of expert judges. Finalists in the "Passive and Electromechanical Product of the Year" category were chosen based on demonstrated technical capabilities that differentiate them from competing products. SMDY1 series ceramic disc safety capacitors are the industry's first such devices to offer a Y1 rating of 500 VAC and 1500 VDC. Designed to withstand harsh, high humidity environments, the components also offer industry-high capacitance to 4.7 nF. The capacitors are ideal for EMI filtering and suppression in power supplies, solar inverters, smart meters, and LED drivers. The closest competing devices only offer capacitance up to 1.5 nF and Y1 ratings to 300 VAC, with no DC rating. In addition, the SMDY1 series offers higher humidity robustness with a Class IIB humidity grade (under IEC60384-14 annex I) and a moisture sensitivity level of 2a. Allowing for surface-mount assembly with a reflow soldering process, SMDY1 series capacitors reduce production costs. Compared to through-hole devices, they offer a lower profile and eliminate the need for clearance space on the backside of the PCB. RoHS-compliant and halogen-free, the components consist of a copper-plated ceramic disc and feature encapsulation made of flame-resistant epoxy resin under UL 94 V-0. Award winners will be announced at the Elektra Awards Dinner, taking place in London on Dec. 1 at the Grosvenor House Hotel. Renesas Electronics has made its entry in the FieldProgrammable Gate Array (FPGA) market with a new line of very low-cost, very low-power devices. The ForgeFPGA Family will address the underserved market need for relatively small amounts of programmable logic that can be quickly and efficiently designed into cost-sensitive applications. The ForgeFPGA devices will provide dramatic cost savings versus other alternatives, including non-FPGA designs. By providing a high level of integration, they reduce overall board and system costs. Their projected price in the volume of well under US$ 0.50, opens up applications that previously couldn’t use FPGAs due to cost constraints, including highvolume consumer and IoT applications. The ForgeFPGA Family will serve applications that require less than 5,000 gates of logic, with initial device sizes of 1K and 2K Look Up Tables (LUTs).

Micron & MediaTek First to Validate LPDDR5X DRAM

Micron Technology has reported that MediaTek Inc. has validated Micron’s low-power double data rate 5X (LPDDR5X) DRAM for MediaTek’s new Dimensity 9000 5G flagship chipset

for smartphones. Micron is the first semiconductor company to sample and validate this fastest, most advanced mobile memory in the industry and has shipped the first batch of samples of LPDDR5X built on its first-to-market 1α (1-alpha) node. Designed for high-end and flagship smartphones, Micron’s LPDDR5X allows the smartphone ecosystem to unlock the next wave of data-intensive applications powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G innovation. The market delivery and validation of Micron’s industryleading 1α-based LPDDR5X solidifies its product innovation and leadership in the mobile ecosystem, following industry-first launches for LPDDR5, 1α-based LPDDR4X, 176-layer NANDbased UFS 3.1 and uMCP5 solutions. Micron has validated samples supporting data rates up to 7.5 Gb/s, with samples supporting data rates up to 8.533 Gb/s to follow. Peak LPDDR5X speeds of 8.533 Gb/s deliver up to 33% faster performance1 than previous-generation LPDDR5. Micron is collaborating with the world’s leading smartphone manufacturers and chipset vendors to enable ecosystem innovation with LPDDR5X.